Gillette resident Teri Dearcorn has participated in Campbell County Health's
corporate wellness program for a number of years. While she’s always enjoyed participating
in the program through her employer and keeping an eye on her health,
she never actually expected the program to save her life.
In August 2016, she went in for her annual wellness screening and was surprised
when she received a phone call from her doctor’s office a few weeks
later about her blood test results. She’d always had her results
sent to her physician, but when she got a call saying her numbers were
off and needed to do a follow-up test she was caught off guard. And then
when the second test results came back showing that her numbers had declined
further, Teri became more concerned.
“That’s when I started getting alerted to something wrong,”
Teri said.
After having a bone marrow biopsy at CCH's
Heptner Cancer Center, Teri was referred to Denver because the test found a rare form of Acute
Myeloid Leukemia (AML). For the past year-and-half, Teri has undergone
treatment, that has included chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.
But it’s the initial annual wellness screening that Teri credits
with saving her life.
"The doctor said if I had gone two or three more weeks I wouldn’t
be here,” Teri said. “The doctor said that with early detection
of this fatal disease, he felt ‘very confident’ that it could
be cured. That screening saved my life.” Within a month of her blood
draw, Teri was admitted to the
University of Colorado to begin her journey to healing.
Teri had participated in the program for a number of years through her
employer, Campbell County
Sheriff’s Office, and even encouraged her co-workers to participate. It helped her track
her high blood pressure and gave her tips on ways to live a healthier life.
In 2017, more than 15,000 people participated in one of CCH’s
Wellness programs—Corporate Wellness or its
daily screening program. The annual blood screening and wellness coaching is provided through
corporate partnerships with CCH that help many community members keep
their health in check.
“This is their window to see what needs to be done with their health,” said
Christina Rose, wellness clinic supervisor and Health Coach. “We want people to
feel empowered about their health. Preventative health is so important.”
Participating in the program is something that Christina believes empowers
individuals to take charge of their health and monitor their progress.
With the health coaching program, available only through Corporate Wellness,
the coach typically spends 10-15 minutes going over a client’s blood
panel and explaining what all the numbers mean. If something comes back
off in their blood screening, like in Teri’s case, clients are encouraged
to follow-up with their physician for further explanation and possible
additional testing.
This year CCH added
five new screenings to offer more value to clients. These screenings are available to individuals
who want to take part in the
Daily Health Screenings that Wellness offers, as well as additional tests that Corporate Wellness
participants can choose to have done. In addition to testing for the basics
like cholesterol, blood sugar and blood cell counts, participants can
opt to take tests that screen for lead, Hepatitis C, celiac disease and
two for thyroid irregularities.
Now retired from the Sheriff’s department, Teri still participates
in the program through her husband’s employment with the City of
Gillette’s
Police Department.
And Teri believes in the wellness program so much that she’s already
got her appointment scheduled this year.
“My husband and kids, I’m sure, are very thankful I participated
in the wellness program,” Teri said. “Without it, I may not
be here right now. I hope that through my experience other people will
be inspired to be more proactive in their health.”
The start of a new year is a great time to get your blood checked and establish
baseline levels for cholesterol and other important components in your blood.
CCH Wellness in Gillette, Wyoming offers affordable blood screenings every weekday
from 6-11 am at 1901 Energy Court, Suite 125, with no appointment required.
Learn more at
www.cchwyo.org/screen or call 307.688.8051.
Interested in learning more about Corporate Wellness programs?
A wellness program is an investment in your organization’s most
important asset – your employees. Organizations implementing
Corporate Wellness programs report reduced healthcare costs, increased productivity, improved
employee morale and organizational loyalty. CCH Wellness works with your
company to improve the health of your employees as well as the spouses
of those employees. To learn more about Wellness, please visit
www.cchwyo.org/Wellness or call 307.688.8051.
Article written by Kim Phagan-Hansel, Wyoming freelance writer
Want more?
Below are some photos provided by Teri Dearcorn during her fight against
Acute Myeloid Leukemia! Teri is very open to sharing her story. If you'd
like to speak with her, please contact Felicia Messimer in CCH Community
Relations at 307.688.1580.